California drought isn't over, but 'we're getting better'

At the start of January, the California Drought monitor map finally indicated that the drought had eased in some areas of the state, especially around the California Bay Area, the North Coast and far stretches of Northern California. The map from Jan. 3, 2017, is based on precipitation numbers.

At the start of January, the California Drought monitor map finally indicated that the drought had eased in some areas of the state, especially around the California Bay Area, the North Coast and far stretches

At the start of January, the California Drought monitor map finally indicated that the drought had eased in some areas of the state, especially around the California Bay Area, the North Coast and far stretches of Northern California. The map from Jan. 3, 2017, is based on precipitation numbers.

At the start of January, the California Drought monitor map finally indicated that the drought had eased in some areas of the state, especially around the California Bay Area, the North Coast and far stretches

The wet start to the rainy season has soaked the drought-parched state of California, especially the northern half.

The reservoirs are filling up — numbers from Tuesday morning indicate that total surface storage for the state is roughly 97 percent of average. The snow pack is piling up in the Sierra, and underground water stores are recharging.

But don't stop turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth. We're not entirely out of the drought.

"We're getting better in places, but not in others," Michael Anderson, a climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources said. "We've got a mixed bag of conditions going on right now."

Anderson explains that every water agency in the state has a portfolio of supply and a portfolio of demands, and for the state to fully be out of the drought, all agencies need to be able to have their supply meeting their demands. They can't be prioritizing resources or asking for assistance.

Several agencies in Northern California, such as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Marin Municipal Water District, are flush with water.

"The Tuolumne River [which supplies S.F.'s main water source, Hetch Hetchy] is really high right now," Anderson said. "And a lot of it is above our sensor network, so we can't even really say just how good it is."

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Alex Savidge reports

Media: KTVU

But many regions in Southern California are still dry, especially the Tulare Lake region and Santa Barbara County.

Lake Cachuma is Santa Barbara County's main water source, and Anderson says it's the poster child for the California drought. The reservoir is full at 205,000 acre feet and is currently storing 16,000.

"In this recent storm, I think they've managed to get a little over 1,000 acre feet of water," Anderson said.

Meanwhile, in Northern California, Anderson is assuming that once he looks at the numbers for these early January storms, he'll find that the reservoirs in Northern California gained some million acres of storage.

All of this water in Northern California has had an impact and the U.S. Drought Monitor map indicates that the San Francisco Bay Area, the North Coast and other stretches of the region are out of the drought. Anderson points out the map is based mainly on precipitation and doesn't take into other factors such as groundwater, which is still running low after several years of drought.

Steve Paulson has the forecast

Media: KTVU

"I can't say that we're out of the drought," Anderson says. "But this storm helps. Even though it brings hazard, it helps.

He added: "We rely on these kinds of storms to be some of the fundamental foundation of our water supply. It's a balance because while you're doing the drought, you're also managing flood response at the same time."